Colne mother nearly three times over limit in early morning crash

A drink-drive mum was almost three times the limit when she crashed into a parked car in the early hours, a court heard.

Emily Lockett (27) caused extensive damage to the Vauxhall Corsa she was driving and also the car she hit on Burnley Road East in Waterfoot. She blew 102 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath at the police station. The legal limit is 35.

Lockett, who works part-time at Boundary Mill in Colne, was said to have been sipping spirits as well as having had three pints of cider at a party at The Masons Arms in Waterfoot. Her friend had started to run the pub and she had intended to stay the night and not drive.

Cathryn Fell, defending Lockett, told Burnley magistrates what she had done was completely out of character.

Miss Fell said at about 4am - although her memory was hazy - the defendant decided to sit in her vehicle, she believed, to have a cigarette. The solicitor continued: "She says, 'I believe I may have put the engine on because it was cold.' She says: 'I cannot explain why I have driven that car.'

"She doesn't recall the collision," Miss Fell said. "She says the next thing she remembers is the police attending. It's completely out of character for this lady and it's a lady that the courts will never see again."

Miss Fell, who said Lockett accepted she had not had any food from lunchtime, added: "She is distraught about what happened."

The defendant, of Station Road in Padiham, admitted driving with excess alcohol on February 18th. She was given a 12-community order with 100 hours unpaid work and was told to pay £85 costs and an £85 victim surcharge. Lockett, who had no previous convictions, was banned for two years.